Win streak halts at 10 in narrow fashion

Sunday, May 12

Phoenix, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

32-19, 21-6

Abilene Christian

30-22, 16-11

Abilene Christian

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jack Gilday

5/12/2024 3:40:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

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Lopes honor 11 on Senior Day; bullpen allows 1 run in 6 2/3 innings

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon ended its home baseball season with 14 consecutive victorious WAC series and a fourth consecutive regular-season title clinch, but the home finale also marked the end of the nation's longest winning streak.

GCU's 10-game winning streak was halted when a late-game rally ended Sunday with a 4-3 loss to Abilene Christian at GCU Ballpark, where senior left fielder Tyler Wilson was left stranded at second after extending his hitting streak to 20 games.

The Lopes (32-18, 21-5 WAC) lost starting pitcher Connor Mattison to injury after 2 2/3 innings, but the bullpen stepped up to allow one run over the final 6 1/3 innings to give GCU a chance to find its bats.

After hitting .359 with 11.7 runs per game over the first nine games of the winning streak, GCU won despite being five-hit on Saturday and was six-hit on Sunday.

The Lopes trailed 4-1 when they loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the eight on two walks and senior third baseman Eli Paton's high-hopping single. GCU pushed two runs across with senior second baseman Dustin Crenshaw's RBI single to left field and an ensuing bases-loaded double play.

Wilson's one-out double to left field made him the potential tying run, but he was stranded but Wildcats senior right-handed struck out senior center fielder Cade Versusco and sophomore first baseman Zach Yorke to end the game. Wilson's 20-game hitting streak is the Lopes' longest since Chad De La Guerra hit in 24 consecutive games in 2015.

Hunter Watkins

"The guys gave it everything they had, and I told them, 'Let's start another 10-game winning streak,' " GCU head coach Gregg Wallis said. "This is the time of the year to do it. So we're going to walk out of here with our heads high. We've been playing great baseball lately."

Freshman Hunter Wakins and seniors Bryan Webb, Carter Young and Nathan Ward all threw shutout relief to set up the Lopes rally. Watkins handled 2 1/3 innings with five strikeouts, giving him a five-appearance run with 1.46 ERA and 14 strikeouts with one walk in 12 1/3 innings.

GCU trailed 3-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning, when junior designated hitter Beau Ankeney hit a solo home run to center field after a stellar at bat with three consecutive foul balls on 2-2 pitch. After keying Saturday's three-run fifth inning with a leadoff double, the Sunday blast was Ankeney's 10th home run of the season but his first since March 24.

"It was a great game," Ankeney said. "It took everything they had for them to beat us today. We didn't have our best, but we're just going to keep doing that. Beau Ankeney

"We're connected. We're all in synch. It's great in the locker room now too. We have great seniors. They're all big contributors to this team. Every single one of them. They're great leaders. That's why we've been playing so good. It's because of them."

Prior to the game, GCU honored 11 senior players with their mothers throwing out first pitches to them. The group included most of the starting lineup – Crenshaw, Paton, Verdusco, Wilson, catcher Alton Gyselman, right fielder Eddy Pelc, as well as Shawn Triplett, Ward, Webb and Young coming out of Sunday's bullpen. The other senior, Elijah Buries, was held out because of injury.

"It was really a cool experience," Wallis said. "All those seniors out there are huge contributors. They're not just guys who are in the program. Every guy who stood on that line today has made major contributions to the program to help us get to where we are at right now."

The Lopes finish the regular season this week with a nonconference stop at BYU on Tuesday and a weekend conference series at Utah Valley. As the No. 1 seed, the WAC Tournament will begin for GCU on Thursday, May 23, at Hohokam Park in Mesa.

"We want to approach every game the rest of the way like it's a tournament game," Wallis said. "And then when we get to the tournament, obviously we know how tough this league is."